Take One Picture National Gallery hits Westminster streets
Take One Picture National Gallery has brought the painting The Courtyard of a House in Delft into the heart of Westminster, and it’s a delight for Londoners. Children’s interpretations of Pieter de Hooch’s 1658 masterpiece have appeared across three local sites, including Jubilee Walk, St James’s Market Pavilion and the new Roden Centre for Creative Learning, through physical displays and an innovative augmented reality (AR) trail.
The Take One Picture National Gallery project invited pupils from 40 UK primary schools, over 83,000 children in total this year, to interpret the de Hooch painting through workshops featuring motion capture, 3D scanning, text-to‑3D modelling and voice AI. Co-created with tech studio 1UP Studios and powered by 8th Wall, these digital layers come to life on mobiles and tablets at Jubilee Walk, just outside the Sainsbury Wing, offering an immersive trail that connects art, tech and local culture.
Physical exhibits at St James’s Market Pavilion, provided by The Crown Estate, showcase artworks inspired by children’s curiosity: from questions about the plaque and the figures, to playful imaginings of the house’s front view. Meanwhile, the Roden Centre’s Welcome Space features the film One Painting, Many Voices, where kids discuss everything from the architecture to de Hooch’s portrayal of familial warmth in an intimate courtyard moment.
From a UK perspective, the Take One Picture National Gallery programme (highlighting the scale of national creative learning) places art at the centre of education and community. It’s part of the National Gallery’s bicentenary efforts to reach even more learners through the Roden Centre, welcoming an extra 50,000 participants annually. On weekends and through August, free family workshops run at the Centre, bringing creativity into your summer.
Image: Pieter de Hooch, ‘The Courtyard of a House in Delft’, 1658
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